Active shooter exercise at Holloman

The scenario has played out in various cities across the nation. A lone gunman enters a school or a movie theater and randomly shoots at everyone in the room.

Holloman Air Force Base went on full lockdown Tuesday morning to conduct a simulated active shooter exercise.

An active shooter is an person engaged in killing or attempting to kill people, usually with a high-powered firearm or pistol in a confined or other populated area.

According to news articles, the Washington Post, Mother Jones and other news outlets are reporting that 2012 was the worst year for mass shootings in U.S. history.

The nation saw 151 people either wounded or killed in mass shootings, which included the most deadliest shootings in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

The exercise included a simulated 45-minute ambulance run to Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center.

The active shooter exercise was conducted to prepare Holloman personnel in the event of an active shooter incident on the base.

Arlan Ponder, Holloman's media relations director, said the base conducts different types of emergency exercises such as tornado drills, air plane crashes and active shooter exercises.

Advertisement

"The wing conducts such exercises several times each year to ensure that first responders, base personnel and residents know how to respond in the event of an emergency," Ponder said. "We ask for your patience and cooperation as we continually improve our emergency preparedness here at Holloman."

For the active shooter exercise, Holloman utilized its Facebook page and public address system to notify base personnel of the exercise.

Holloman broadcasted "Exercise, Exercise, Simulated Facebook post: Alert: Holloman AFB is on lockdown. All personnel, residents and guests should seek shelter, lock and barricade doors, and shelter in place until further notice. Stay clear of Building 311, and check this page often for updates," on their Facebook and over the base public address system.

Telephone calls and text messages also went out to all base personnel notifying them of the exercise.

Ponder said if it was a real-world emergency and not an exercise, the messages would have been broadcast through various alert systems.

Building 311 is part of the 49th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

The scenario included blank shots being fired from a high-powered rifle inside building 311. Security forces personnel, as well as Holloman civilian police officers, entered the building to "take out" the lone gunman.

In the end, security forces personnel found four people dead from gunshot wounds and three people suffering from non-lethal gunshot wounds. The gunman was also killed by security forces personnel.

Ponder said the one surprise or unexpected part of the exercise was Senior Airman Carlos Silverio, who barricaded himself in a closet inside the building.

"We can plan or script them all day long, but you can get somebody walking in like Silverio," he said. "He did exactly what a person is suppose to do in an emergency such as this one. Security forces, during their sweep to secure the building, found him barricaded in a closet."

Silverio said he heard the gunshots as soon as he entered the building.

"I ran to the office, but they locked it," he said. "I just went into the closet and treated it like a real-world event. I grabbed some 2-x-4 boards and stuff in front of me for cover. When I heard the shooting stop and the door opened, I figured it was the good guys or police. I also texted my supervisor that I was safe and hiding here. It was pretty interesting and a good experience. I just went with it. It felt real."Contact Duane Barbati at dbarbati@alamogordonews.com. or Follow him @DuaneBarbati